No. STUDY REPORT ON THE PROJECT FOR IMPROVEMENT OF EQUIPMENT FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES ON MAYA CIVILIZATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS MARCH 2001 JAPAN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AGENCY (JICA) G R 2 CR (1) 01 - 091 CONTENTS PREFACE LOCATION MAP CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT--------------------------------------------------1 CHAPTER 2 CONTENTS OF THE PROJECT -------------------------------------------------------4 2.1 Basic Concept of the Project ------------------------------------------------------------------------4 2.2 Basic Design for Requested Japanese Assistance------------------------------------------------6 2.2.1 Design Policy -----------------------------------------------------------------------------7 2.2.2 Basic Plan (Equipment Plan) -----------------------------------------------------------8 2.2.3 Implementation Plan ------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 2.3 Obligations of Recipient Country ---------------------------------------------------------------- 28 2.4 Project Operation Plan ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 CHAPTER 3 PROJECT EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS---------------------- 31 3.1 Project Effects--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 3.2 Recommendations ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 35 APPENDICES 1. Member List of the Study Team--------------------------------------------------------------------- 39 2. Study Schedule----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40 3. List of Parties Concerned in Recipient Country--------------------------------------------------- 42 4. Minutes of Discussions ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 43 5. Cost Estimation Borne by the Recipient Country------------------------------------------------- 54 6. Other Relevant Data----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 58 6.1 Planned Site for Pre-Fabricated Warehouse (CRIA) -------------------------------------- 58 6.2 Equipment Installation Sites (CRIA)--------------------------------------------------------- 59 CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT Prior to the period of Spanish rule, the Republic of Honduras (hereinafter referred to as Honduras) was located at the point of contact between different civilisations as the western part and central to southern part of Honduras belonged to the southwestern part of the Mayan Civilisation Zone and the Low Central American Civilisation Zone respectively. There are, therefore, many vestiges of Mayan and non-Mayan civilisations. Among the vestiges of Mayan civilisation, the ruins at Copán are the most representative ruins of the Mayan Dynasty which prospered from the 5th century to the 9th century as Copán was an important centre of Mayan civilisation together with Tikal1 in Guatemala and Palenque2 in Mexico. Archaeological sites in Honduras consist of the ruins at Copán, one of the the most famous ruins of Mayan civilisation, the ruins at El Puente which are related to Mayan civilisation and the ruins of other civilisations which coexisted with or existed prior to Mayan civilisation. At the ruins at Copán in particular, there are many highly artistic remains, including the Steps of Sacred Letters, the highest number of inscriptions using Mayan letters among the ruins of Mayan civilisation and unique stone sculptures called relief sculptures, and Copán was designated a world cultural heritage site by the UNESCO in 1980. In recent years, a temple of presumably an early age has been excavated almost intact inside the pyramid. A new tomb of a king was discovered in 2000, suggesting that there is potential for further discoveries. Because of the recent rapid progress in the deciphering of Mayan letters, the scope of knowledge and understanding of Mayan archaeology has also been enhanced. Meanwhile, the ruins in Honduras have been well preserved compared to Mayan ruins in other countries due to conscious efforts by the Government of Honduras and the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History (Instituto Hondureño de Antropología e Historia - hereinafter referred to as the IHAH) for many years. Accordingly, there have been few cases of illegal excavation. There are many Mayan ruins existing not very far from the ruins at Copán, including the ruins at El Puente. Ruins of non-Mayan civilisations, such as the ruins at Los Naranjos and the ruins at Yarumela, exsist in central part of Honduras. With so many cultural heritage sites as described above, Honduras is aiming at developing comprehensive tourism which incorporates both natural and cultural remains, centering on the ruins of Mayan civilisation. Through the development of tourism, it hopes to free itself from the industrial structure dependent on the export of such 1 Located some 300 km north of Guatemala City, Tikal was almost at the centre of the old Mayan World and prospered as a centre of Mayan civilisation for a long period of time from around BC 200 to AD 900. 2 Palenque is located at the base of the Yukatan Peninsula and was situated at the western end of the Mayan Lowland in ancient times. It prospered from around AD 400 to AD 800 and boasted a beautiful pyramidal temple, lattice- work crest, stucco statues on the outer walls and sculptures on the front side of the mansard roof. －1－ agricultural products as bananas and coffee which are highly susceptible to the weather conditions and price fluctuations in the international market to improve the stability of the national economy. In 1952, IHAH has been established as the sole government institution for the survey, protection, conservation, management and operation of historical and anthropological cultural heritage in Honduras which is not only valuable from the academic point of view but which also constitutes important tourism resources. It has the headquarters in Tegucigalpa, two district offices (at Copán Ruinas and La Lima[= San Pedro Sula]) and three branch offices (at La Entrada, Omoa and Trujillo). Although the IHAH is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture, it has been pursuing the goal of protecting the ruins in Honduras as an independent organisation in terms of policy decisions and budget execution. However, despite the series of measures introduced by the IHAH to protect the ruins, the deterioration of the ruins is still taking place, including the partial loss of the ruins at Copán due to heavy rain resulting from Hurricane Mitch in October, 1998 and several downpours thereafter. This process has been exacerbated by artificial factors, including excessive excavation surveys without measures to conserve the ruins conducted at Copán in the 1990’s (for example, excavation involving a complicated tunnel network inside the acropolis3). Other archaeological ruins currently face such problems as their destruction due to housing and other development activities in urban areas and illegal excavation at unregistered ruins in the eastern part of Honduras which largely remains undeveloped. Under these circumstances, the IHAH prepared the Cultural Ruins Rescue and Registration Programme in 1999 to speed up the process of recording and registering the ruins scattered throughout the country and the Integral Conservation Program for Copan Archaeological Park (Programa Integral de Conservación del Parpue Arqueológico Copán - hereinafter referred to as PICPAC) at the same time. Then these programmes were commenced in March, 1999. The wide ranging contents of the PICPAC include (i) the urgent excavation of ruins in the Copán Valley which are rapidly disappearing due to district development work and a development plan for the rehabilitation of the hurricane damage, (ii) the restoration and reinforcement of tunnels inside the acropolis and corte4, (iii) the surveying and recording of the ruins of Mayan civilisation and (iv) education of the public to improve their awareness of the importance of the preservation of cultural heritage through the production and television broadcasting of video programmes on the ruins at Copán with the cooperation of the Ministry of Culture. In this context, the IHAH is currently facing the problem of a critical equipment shortage to implement the PICPAC as the 3 The acropolis consisting of temples and other buildings was built on a hill through a series of additions and rebuilding. 4 This refers to a section of the acropolis at the ruins at Copán which is now exposed due to erosion by Copán River. Several layers of plaster floors are observed in this section, indicating past Mayan activities to add or rebuild the area and constituting an important academic site. －2－ equipment in its possession almost entirely consists of equipment provided by Japanese cultural grant aid in fiscal year 1983. In the meantime, following a temporary suspension caused by Hurricane Mitch, the Cultural Heritage Relief and Registration Programme has earnestly recommenced nationwide and is facing a particularly urgent need for the registration of cultural heritage in the eastern part of the country and Comayagua Province. Urgent tasks to be addressed by the IHAH are listed below. ! Prevention of the disappearance of ruins due to housing development in Honduras ! Restoration of the ruins damaged by Hurricane Mitch and downpours ! Acquisition of the manpower and funding for the conservation, restoration and security of archaeological sites to be